Before the Typhoon
by Insurance Girls
Summary: So...you always thought the insurance duo always worked together? Now we find out that is NOT SO! Be enertained and read about how Meryl met Milly! Oh, and please review! :D
1. New Recruit

Hullo there. We haven't made any additions lately, so I decided to get creative! Er...This is AJ, by the way. For those of you who haven't checked out our profile, that would be Apple Juice. :D So...without further to do..Read on!

Oh. Right. -Reads her paper- 'We do not own any of the characters because they belong to the guy who created them.' Ta-dah. oo... But we own their minds...PWAHAHAHAHAHA...!! -Cough-

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"Miss Stryfe, please come to the front office immediately."  
  
A glare was shot at the gray colored box nailed to the ceiling in the corner. No doubt everyone in the office had heard the slightly static voice of the chief. Saying nothing, she stood up from her desk and walked towards the room of her boss. On the way, she wondered why they even had bought these intercoms. After all, his loud, obnoxious voice booming out into the working area was enough to get anyone out of their chairs.  
  
"..You wanted to see me, sir?" She strode into the office, like any other time she'd been called upon. Usually because someone had done something stupid and messed with the files; nothing out of the ordinary. But today, there was a new face. She stood there, simply looking out the window with the curiosity of a child. A pigeon was walking back and forth on the outside window sill, and her light blue eyes were following it closely. Lengthy light brown hair was left loose in a completely unprofessional manor and she was wearing...the...uniform of the company?  
  
"Yes...right.." He looked up lazily from his desk, distracting her from taking in further details of the visitor. Motioning towards the stranger standing off to the side, he said something she hadn't heard in ages. "I'd like you to meet our new recruit." Was it just her, or was there a tinge of regret in his voice..? Meryl thought this over as she was handed a manila folder with a yellow sparkly smiley sticker in the top right-hand corner. "..Um...sir...?"  
  
"..This is her portfolio. I figured you'd want to look it over now that you'll be showing her around."  
  
"Right.." Her voice trailed off as she flipped through the documents. Everything was filled out in neat cursive, but what she read nearly made her faint. Was he kidding!? The month of April was long gone, so this couldn't be a practical joke...but how she hoped...Hmm...Name: Milly Thompson, Age: 22, Position Desired: Anything will do, really. I don't mind...  
  
There was just NO WAY. He was actually accepting this...this...she couldn't even think of a word for it. Her boss must've noticed, too, since now he made a suggestion. "...Err, Miss Thompson, maybe you should wait outside for a moment."  
  
With a simple nod and smile, she left the room closing the door promptly behind her. As soon as she heard that click, Meryl was prepared to burst.  
  
"..Sir, you can't be SERIOUS!"  
  
"I know, I know...I realize that this seems totally ...well...you know, but think about it. When's the last time we had anyone even think getting a job here? You know it and I know it. We need to hire anyone who even files an application. It just so happens that Miss Thompson is new to December. She moved here last week and filed for a job yesterday. And..."  
  
She didn't hear what he was talking about now. Meryl was off in deep thought. It was true. Ever since that humanoid typhoon had shown up in the 'outside world', people at the office had quit for their own sanity. There were literally hundreds of damage reports on him and people could go crazy just sorting them. Fortunately for her, she'd never been assigned to any of his cases. Yet. Then she realized the chief was looking at her with an arched brow. "..Oh, sorry sir. What were you saying?"  
  
"I was saying that you're the one who's going to show her around. Not only in the office but out of work, too. "Taking on a stern tone now, he shook his pointer finger in the air. "...But keep her in the dark about H.T. The last thing we need is to gain an employee then lose them a few hours later." Before Meryl could even decline, he added. "Do this for me and I'll add a few days to your vacation time."  
  
Well that shut her right up. More time away from work? She'd do anything for that. Even introduce an airhead around as if she wanted to. "...All right, sir. I'll do it." Then turning to leave, she mumbled. "But I won't like it."


	2. No Attention Span

I'm glad to hear that my story is appreciated! Seriously though, the reviews made my day. Anyway, I never planned for this to be a one-shot. Hopefully, I'll have enough brainpower to think up 5 chapters or more. Anyway, I still don't own anything...-Coughcough- YET...  
  
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There was a soft clicking noise as the door shut after the slightly flustered woman. Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, she took a deep breath, then looked up. And what to her wondering eyes should appear? It was just Milly and eight friggin' co-workers looking over her shoulder. She decided to save her words until she got there. But still. Why were...there...  
  
"..Oh! And this is my cousin. She's married with three children. They're very cute, too. Here's a family photo...With my aunt, and uncle. And this is my sister..."  
  
She was...showing off her family? Well, not exactly showing off...just introducing them to her kin. And no one was doing a bit of work. "...Just what exactly is going on here? Excuse me...Milly. I need to speak with you." A glare she sent to the small crowd around Miss Thompson caused them to scatter and eventually get back to work.  
  
"Oh, hello. Would you like to see them, too?" She looked towards Meryl with a serene smile, asking the question in a completely honest tone of voice.  
  
"Wh...ugh...Never mind." Meryl held out a hand, waiting expectantly for the taller girl to shake it. "My name is Meryl Stryfe. I'll be helping you around the office until you get on your toes."  
  
It took a few moments, but Milly did respond by shaking her hand. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Milly Thompson. So...um...what am I supposed to do?"  
  
Nearly looking close to straight upwards at her, she prepared to go on about what she did at the Bernardelli Insurance company. "Here at Bernardelli, we're responsible for a vast amount of insurance cases dealing with thousands of circumstances ranging from something like a house fire to the humanoid Typhoo—"Ooh great. Somebody slipped. Now the questions would come.  
  
"..Huh...?"  
  
..Maybe she hadn't heard of him? How lucky can you get? "Oh, it's nothing. Ahem...anyway.." She continued to thoroughly explain the company as Milly listened somewhat less than intently. Her eyes were on the short girl before her, but her mind had already flown out the window. There were words here and there, but mostly just ' You see, blah, important, blah, blah. You need to blah, and blah, blah..'  
  
"Do you understand?"  
  
All at once, she snapped back together. "Oh yes, Sempai. Totally. I guess I should go set up my desk now, huh?" Before she could stop her, Milly had already left to set up quietly.  
  
'Sempai...?' Already she had a nickname? Huh. With a small shake of her head, she turned to resume working on her own. And so begins the lengthy story of the infamous Insurance girls. (Even if it's already on the second chapter.) 


	3. Just the Basics

-Twitch twitch- O-okay...so I haven't updated for a little. Er....A lot. uu; I've had a lot to do! Forgive me! xx;; A free donut to those who can! But...anyway...You guys are so nice. When I first thought about this idea, I was scared that I might run out of creativeness after the first chapter...BUT... I've been inspired by reviews! W00t. I WILL keep writing...and...and if it comes out horrible, then...I'll find out in reviews! Because in the end, that's all you have. Reviews. You've given your story away to the public so they can either cherish it or burn it (Please...PLEASE cherish it ;;)

Oh...and I don't own anything except myself. And the reviews. And...and...their...minds...Pwuahaha...

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The day passed seemingly smoothly, aside of the massive paper scattering brought on by a crash between Meryl and Milly. Both happened to be carrying their weight in folders, and both just happened to turn the corner at the same time. Milly happened to be watching her step as one of her co-workers slipped by, also catching Meryl off guard as well. Then, before you know it..."Oof!" Then the papers...it looked like someone had redecorated in white on the floor. It was actually pretty neat, considering that some of them just kinda hung in the air for a while, like giant square snowflakes. Both insurance girls had fallen down, though Milly was more noticeable since the smaller one had been covered in a blanket of sheets. "Oh...oh dear...I'm so sorry..." Scrambling to gather the documents, she realized this was futile since both Meryl and Milly's documents had mixed together. "...I feel awful...Sorry!" Biting her bottom lip, she finally looked fearfully over to her coworker. Meryl hadn't really moved. She looked so very calm on the outside, although inside she was fighting back the urge to bonk the new girl on the head. But she really doubted that her vacation hours would go up if she was caught beating her 'apprentice'. So instead of taking action violently, she counted to ten and took a deep breath.

"Don't worry about it. It...happens all the time." She looked up with an assuring smile, but couldn't do much for the vein pulsing on her forehead.

"...A-are you sure?" She replied, blinking several times. She'd been scolded before for being careless. Not by her parents; they didn't mind, but by other people. Since she met Meryl only a few hours before, she wasn't sure how she'd react.

"Yes. Totally. Now, let's get this cleaned up. We close at five and it's already 4:48." Without another word, she began to sort the papers, working quickly and diligently. Milly stared for several moments before she responded by picking up her own sheets. Soon the task was completed and Meryl was surprised to find out that working together, she was rather quick in doing her job. Apparently, Milly noticed as well.

"Wow! That was fast! Does everything go that quickly around here?"

"I wish..."

"...Huh?"

"..Aahah...nothing, nothing. All right, time to check out. See you tomorrow, then. " Having turned away, she waved a hand without bothering to look over her shoulder.

"..Um...Sempai?"

"...Hmm?" Pausing, her gray eyes took a glance at the girl whom was smiling sheepishly.

"I really hate to bother you, but do you know the direction to the post office? I mean...I know it's probably already closed, but I'd like to know where it is."

"Sure. In fact, it's not too far from here. All you have to do is take Cedar Street, then a left down First. After that, turn on Main..." Her voice trailed off when she caught the blank stare on Milly's face. "You know what? Why don't I just show you?"

"Oh, no. It's really all right...I'm sure you have better things to do..." The sheepish look only spread. Milly had never meant to trouble her. But Meryl wasn't going to back down.

_Like what...? Dishes? _"Don't be silly. It's no problem. Hurry and get your stuff together. I'll be at the door."

In a few minutes, a girl in a yellow-tannish coat, with teal-blue shoulder greeted Meryl again at the doorway to the street. _Is she asking to be noticed, or what? _She asked herself, then shook off the thought as she stepped outside. The suns weren't exactly setting, but one could tell it was late in the day. Looking away from the golden orbs, she saw that Milly was staring straight up at the enormous skyscraper caddy-corner from the Insurance building. "You're going to hurt your neck if you do that for too long. Let's go."

Already, Meryl had assumed the position as leader, and stepped off the sidewalk to cross the street. Milly followed like a puppy, and took in the sights along the way. The trip was short, but in that time, Milly learned that the city was full of noisy people, annoying car horns, and more stores than she ever imagined.

"There it is." The building was large, an off white color. The large letters across the front let anyone who could read what was inside; **DECEMBER POST OFFICE **

"...Wow...Huh. So...I guess that's all." The tall girl continued staring at the words. The only thing she's had to send mail in her town was a large box that a man would empty out and deliver via Thomas.

"Yeah, that's all." She nearly turned to leave, but became spur-of-the-moment curious. "Hey...Milly. Where are you staying?"

"Oh, me? Well...I'm staying at a hotel until I find an apartment. By what I've heard, I may be staying there for awhile." She shook her head, slightly frowning. Every morning, she'd poured through the newspaper looking for a suitable listing. But something was always wrong. Either the place was too big, too small, or too pricey.

"I'll be on the lookout for one, all right?"

"Yeah, thanks a lot." By now, they were walking again, in the other direction. They talked; not only about the city itself, but how Meryl came to be here. How she started. Being so wrapped up in conversation, they failed to notice that there were a few shadowy figures behind them. It was only when the pair heard a chilling voice that they turned around to look.

"Hey there, girls. Me and my pals have a problem. We're kinda low on cash...so if you don't mind, kindly hand over anything of value. We'd really appreciate it." The man in front, obviously the one running the operation, was speaking. There were three all together, and the two behind him were snickering. Probably at the astonished look on both the girls' faces.

"B-but..." Meryl stuttered. She'd been living there for quite awhile now, and had never had any trouble with thugs or robbers. Now she felt as if she were falling apart. Milly was frozen for a different reason entirely. During her life in her town, there was next to zip crime, therefore she'd never been mugged before. She stared wide-eyed across at the grinning thieves.

"C'mon now. We don't got all day...You've gotta have a purse somewhere..."

"Well no...not really. I don't carry a purse. I don't even have any money on me; sorry." Milly's answer only surprised Meryl more. The girl was answering genuinely, giving a small shrug to the guys who were getting very annoyed. The leader stepped foreword.

He glared angrily at Milly, and she stared calmly back. What was funny...was that he was looking upwards a bit. He was...slightly shorter.

"You should leave us alone now. We don't have anything." Truth be told, Milly had no idea if Meryl had any money, but didn't bother asking.

"You gotta be kidding me! All right guys; search 'em!" As if on cue, the two from the back stepped towards the girls, both attempting to grab their arms.

Before Punk Number 2 realized what happened, a solid fist belonging to the tall girl had been planted into his face. "I told you to leave us alone!" Milly snapped, unhappy now that these people were being so mean. Then Meryl saw her chance. Punk Number 3 wailed painfully as the heel of her shoe dug into his foot. And before he could react, an elbow jabbed into his stomach. The breath knocked out of him, he fell to the ground, aside of his cringing friend.

"..W...What happened!? It wasn't supposed to be like this..!" The leader yelped, slowly backing away. For some reason, the two very normal girls began to look very menacing. Leaving his 'pals' behind, he fled down a nearby alley.

"...I hope that doesn't happen again. Geez! I told him I didn't have any money...!" Milly huffed, looking down at the men writhing on the sidewalk.

Suddenly, Meryl was overcome with a strange reaction. She began...laughing. "Milly, you were great! I have faith that you'll have no problem living here. Oh, and nice punch!"

"...Eheheh...Really? Well, thank you very much! I..I don't practice, but I do know the basics."

"You'll have to teach me some time. Anyway...now that that's over, I think I should head home."

Milly nodded though wasn't too thrilled about returning the bland little room that she was staying in.

"See you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." Meryl smiled, and turned to head back to her apartment.

As the two parted, the suns were already descending below the buildings as the five moons would rise and bring nightfall.


	4. And so it begins!

Hey look! I'm ALIVE! And this chapter kinda sucks but I'm gonna put it in anyways so I can kick off the great Stampede chase!

Anyway, THANK YOU. You guys rock so much. I'd especially like to thank Shavainethfor giving me the brilliant idea of the shoulder strap story! And if I don't figure out how to add it into this chapter, it'll be in the next one! (Seriously, dude. I was mad at myself for not even THINKING to add that.)

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A week and a day passed, and all was well. Um...kinda. It seemed Milly did well with office work, but since she'd shown up slightly late every day, she'd been doing more cleaning work than anything. Though she didn't mind it one bit. She had a job and that was all that mattered. It just so happened that when she and Meryl were called to the Chief's office, she was scrubbing away at the sink in the bathroom. 

She looked up at the door swung open to see Meryl with a peculiar look on her face.

"We've just been called to the front desk; come on!"

Dropping her things where they were, she followed obediently into the office, though got several more 'looks' from her coworkers since she'd failed to take off her headscarf and apron before then. At least her work clothing wasn't dirty!

"…We've just got news that a city has been destroyed." Was the 'greeting' as soon as they entered.

"….What?" Meryl was completely taken aback by this. It could only mean…

"I have no choice but to assess the situation from the inside. Which means….sending some of our own workers out there."

_Out there…?_ She pondered to herself. _Hah. I wonder who the 'lucky employee' is…? But then...I WAS assigned to his case recently..._Again, her thinking had gotten in the way of here hearing, since he'd obviously asked her a question.

"..Well? What do you think?"

"…Pardon me?"

He frowned a bit, but repeated himself. "You're the one keeping tabs on that Humanoid Typhoo—"

"…Sir!" She'd interrupted, fearful that Milly would hear word of him and not want to be any part of the insurance company.

Instead of stopping himself, he waved her off. " She'd have found out sooner or later. Besides, that's why I called the two of you in here."

…_What's that supposed to mean..? Wait…_She thought, beginning to softly clench her firsts. He wouldn't dare…

"As I was saying…You're the one keeping tabs on that Humanoid Typhoon, so I feel you are the best candidate. Plus you've got no children to look after, and it's a lot easier that way. Before you leave though, I'd like you to go to the shooting gallery downtown a—"

"I can't believe this! You owe me a VACATION! How can you just ignore that and send me off into the desert alone like that?"

"It was an obvious choice. No one here has as much experience in this field as you do. Besides, it's not like you'll be by yourself. I've decided that Miss Milly Thompson will accompany you." He leaned back in his chair, folding his hands calmly as if he had nothing better to do.

"She's barely been here a week, and you're sending her out there?"

"Yes, with you. You're going to need a secretary and since you've been getting along so well, I figured this was the best choice. And it's a good learning experience." He replied with a slight chuckle.

"_Learning experience?_"

Since she hadn't said a word while the entire conversation was transpiring, you'd wonder why they never asked for her input. Milly stood there, very silent, simply listening to all that was being said. Apparently Meryl and she were to go 'out there' and look for someone known as the Humanoid Typhoon. It was obvious that they needed it done quickly for the sake of the company. So…it was then that she chose to make a statement…

"All right sir; we'll do it!"

Both stopped arguing immediately, and peered up at the tall girl whom was looking very confident. Meryl took on an aggravated look, while the chief assumed a pleased one.

"It's settled. I'll give you three days to prepare, then it's off to work." He joked, and gave them a small wave as the two girls left the room. Meryl hadn't even had the chance to object, and Milly seemed rather happy about it all. Finally, something other than paperwork! Little did she know, accepting this assignment full of countless adventures would change both her and Meryl; it would be something that's impossible to forget.


End file.
